By Kalena Reynolds | Staff Writer
As I sat down in the theater, I didn’t know what I was more excited about — more screen time for the most iconic bangs in cinema history or Jenna Ortega playing yet another famous cult-classic goth character.
Being someone who was first frightened by the eclectic sandworms when I was 6 years old but immediately fell in love with the film, I did not have a second film on my 2024 bingo card.
With that being said, my bingo card is now in the trash, and I am eager to announce that “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” is a masterpiece sequel.
I will preface this by saying the casting of Jenna Ortega slightly worried me. I feared that watching her in a film with such similar themes to “Wednesday” would make it hard to separate her character from Wednesday Addams in my mind.
While it’s indisputable that both characters have similar aesthetics, I thoroughly agreed with the casting choices after watching the film.
One thing to note about this film is the lighting and visuals. While Tim Burton never disappoints when it comes to on-screen aesthetics, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” is a great upgrade from the original film’s already cinematic elements.
The lighting resonated in every scene and was one of my favorite parts of the whole movie. The bright green and purple colors were very prominent in the film, and from a branding aspect, they were done well.
Another enjoyable element of the film was the amount of consistency seen between characters in this film and the original. Little details like the “Handbook for the Recently Deceased” once again made an appearance in the film as tributes to the previous film.
One of the more difficult things to wrap my head around was the use of effects in the film. The first film really showed the originality of how each character looked. There were times during the sequel when I felt like I was watching a Ghostbusters film.
While it was nice to see the upgrade in effects, part of me wished the producers relied on those computer-generated parts less.
My least favorite part of the film was the opening. Not only did it feel forced, but it also wasn’t what I wanted from an originality standpoint. It felt cheap and lagged during explanation scenes that were intended to give the audience more information about the story.
Ultimately, the film picked up in the second half and revitalized the über-weird, eclectic humor that Michael Keaton, who played Beetlejuice in both films, had.
The film still carried that eerie sense of slapstick humor that we saw last time, the kind that was provocative and a little unsettling but also drew you in and ultimately created the cult classic-like following that the franchise now has.
While there were times it felt forced and overdone, it’s needless to say that this is expected when a sequel comes out so long after the first film.
Needless to say, it’s still a great film, and everyone should go see it. The acting was phenomenal, and Tim Burton once again created a masterpiece of a story.
However, if you go into the film with certain expectations and comparisons, you will likely be disappointed.
While the film still follows the franchise’s theme, it’s different in many ways as far as effects, narrative and character development go. However, for a sequel, it does not disappoint.
The humor throughout the film never fails, and it’s amazing to see so many of the same characters as in the original film.
